Boardwalk Empire 4.2: J. Edgar

It's alway a treat in an historical drama to encounter a figure, early in life, whom we came to know later in life as a mover and a shaker.   Boardwalk Empire provided such a perk in episode 4.2, with the introduction of J. Edgar Hoover, a federal anti-crime guy in 1924, head of its Bureau of Investigation, on his way to being head of its successor the FBI straight through the Nixon administration until Hoover's demise in 1972.

As such, Hoover was more powerful in some ways than the Presidents he served.  His FBI undoubtedly collected dirt on the Kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr., and all kinds of American heroes whom Hoover hoped to dominate - a goal he attained with mixed but sometimes significant success.   Hoover was certainly a more powerful American than the ineffectual Warren Harding and the other people in his administration we've met on Boardwalk Empire.  I'm looking forward to seeing what impact Hoover has in this series on Nucky.

The arrogant Dr. Valentin Narcisse - played to the hilt by Jeffrey Wright - has already intersected with Nucky and Chalky, lecturing them both, and in particular lording it over Chalky.  Nooky is in general willing to do business with anyone who is not a direct threat to him, but he'll have his hands full with Narcisse, who is every bit a cold-blooded killer as he is haughty, eloquent, and educated.

Over in Chicago, we see what Van Alden is up to, and that's being increasingly drawn into the life of mobster muscle.  We also see Richard at home at last - but there's not much love between him and his sister, aggrieved at his disappearing from the family once before.  Richard would dearly like to retire and nurture his torn soul, but it's just a matter of time until he leaves home, and it will be fun to see where he and shotgun show up.

MIA is still Margaret - she's presumably, where, in New York City?  Her reappearance should also lead to some fireworks in Atlantic City, though Nucky so far is lavishing more attention on Eddie, and his fading heath, than on any thoughts of Margaret.  Well, Eddie was never anything but loyal, and Margaret, well ...

Note: Watch here for my sneak preview reviews - with no spoilers - of the next three episodes.  They'll be posted during the week, with the full recap and review to follow after the episodes air on Sunday nights.

See also Boardwalk Empire 4.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Boardwalk Empire 4.2: Sneak Preview Review

And see also Boardwalk Empire 3.1: Happy News Year 1923  ... Boardwalk Empire 3.2: Gasoline and the White Rock Girl ... Boardwalk Empire 3.3: The Showgirl and The Psycho ... Boardwalk Empire 3.5: "10 L'Chaim" ... Boardwalk Empire 3.7: Deadly Gillian ... Boardwalk Empire 3.8: Andrew Mellon ... Boardwalk Empire 3.9: Impaired Nucky

And see also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube  ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto ... Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story ... Boardwalk Empire 2.6: Owen and Other Bad News for Nucky ... Boardwalk Empire 2.7: Shot in the Hand  ...Boardwalk Empire 2.8: Pups with Fangs ... Boardwalk Empire 2.9: Ireland, Radio, Polio ...Boardwalk Empire 2.10: Double Shot ... Boardwalk Empire 2.11: Gillian and Jimmy  ... Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Finale: Stunner!

And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ...Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist  ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire

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My "Let's Consider the Source" interviews

I was interviewed 52 times from 2007 to 2017 by Bob Mann on his Sirius and XM radio show, "Let's Consider the Source".  At some point in the future, I hope there will be an archive for these appearances.  But here, for the record, is a list of the dates and main topics of these 30-minute interviews (I say "main topics," because we often talked about half a dozen things).

Note added December 6, 2019:  My appearance on "Let's Consider the Source" on January 7, 2017 turned out to be the final episode of that show.  But I had the honor of being the first guest on Bob Mann's new podcast, "Hot Media," on December 4, 2019.  You can listen to that show here.

A complete list of my "Let's Consider the Source" interviews follows:

fake news, January 7, 2017

post election, November 19, 2016

Russian hacking, October 15, 2016

cyber security, June 18, 2016

Touching the Face of the Cosmos, April 30, 2016

Internet encryption, March 19, 2016

Netflix & Amazon streaming, February 13, 2016

ISIS and Internet, December 12, 2015

GOP debates, November 14, 2015

Emmys, September 26, 2015

new TV series, August 8, 2015

evolution of cable TV, May 16, 2015

McLuhan in current context, April 11, 2015

net neutrality, March 14, 2015

The Interview movie, January 17, 2015

Korean Sony hack, December 07, 2014

Ebola media coverage, November 16, 2014

Boardwalk Empire, November 9, 2014

summer television, August 10, 2014

Mad Men Season 7a finale, June 1, 2014

Aereo and the US Supreme Court, April 27, 2014

House of Cards, February 23, 2014

Obamacare web problems, November 24, 2013

The Fifth Estate movie, October 27, 2013

iPhone 5c and s, Breaking Bad, Dexter, September 22, 2013

Chesley (Bradley) Manning verdict, August 11, 2013

Edward Snowden and NSA spying, June 16, 2013

Internet sales tax, May 19, 2013

social media and the Boston bombing, April 28, 2013

impact of podcasting, March 24, 2013

Chinese hacking of New York Times, February 24, 2013

media coverage of gun violence, January 13, 2013

cyber-warfare, October 28, 2012

New New Media, 2nd edition, September 9, 2012

media in totalitarian countries, May 6, 2012

Rutgers webcam verdict, March 25, 2012

Fairness Doctrine - needed again?, February 26, 2012

indecent FCC indecency rules, January 22, 2012

Steve Jobs, October 23, 2011

McLuhan Centenary, September 11, 2011


future of Google, May 15, 2011

future of Facebook, YouTube, April 3, 2011

The Social Contract,  January 30, 2011

Facebook invasions of privacy, October 10, 2010

Wiki-leaks, August 15, 2010

Lost (television series) finale, May 30, 2010

Google v. China, January 26, 2010

science fiction on television, November 17, 2009

New New Media, September 15, 2009

politics and social media, January 17 and 20, 2009

Sopranos conference at Fordham University, May 27, 2008

increase of sexuality on television October 30, 2007

See also my KNX-1070 Sunday morning interviews, my YouTube channel, and New New Media interviews.

More about "Let's Consider the Source" here.

Hell on Wheels 3.7: Water, Water

"Water, water every where, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink," the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote in the "Ryme of the Ancient Mariner" in 1798. And that's an apt description of tonight's Hell on Wheels 3.7 taking place less than a hundred years later - including the shrinking of the board that was attempting to railroad Bohannan out of the railroad last week.

The water is undrinkable because it's carrying cholera.  And the pursuit of potable water (for some reason, I like that word) by Bohanan is the main spring of the story tonight.   He finally reaches it, thanks to the son of the Mormon couple murdered by the Swede last week.

I was glad to see this, not only because it saved Bohannan and the railroad, but because it connected Bohannan, at long last, to the Swede.  I'll be disappointed if Bohannan doesn't put the Swede out of his misery by the end of this season.

Back to the shrinking board:  it shrunk by one in tonight's episode, because Durant shot the Senator who not only failed to deliver Bohannan on a platter last week but was now extricating himself from being Durant's lacky.  Durant is getting more reckless by the episode, now shooting a U.S. Senator point blank dead.

But the most powerful storyline in tonight's episode had little to do with water - except insofar as Eva didn't want her daughter subjected to the daily deadly perils of life on the frontier, such as cholera. So she gives her and Elam's baby to the baby's biological uncle.  Elam - as we see in the coming attractions, and as makes total sense - will go ballistic when he finds out.   Indeed, it's hard to see how his relationship with Eva can survive - unless, perhaps, she is pregnant, this time with his child.

But the irony regarding the bad water and cholera theme of tonight's episode is they had plenty of that back here in New York, back then, too.

See also Hell on Wheels 3.1-2: Bohannan in Command ... Hell on Wheels 3.3: Talking and Walking ... Hell on Wheels 3.4: Extreme Lacrosse ... Hell on Wheels 3.5: The Glove ... Hell on Wheels 3.6: The Man in Charge

And see also  Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on the Track, and the Telegraph ... Hell on Wheels 1.6: Horse vs. Rail ... Hell on Wheels 1.8: Multiple Tracks ... Hell on Wheels 1.9: Historical Inevitable and Unknown ... Hell on Wheels Season One Finale: Greek Tragedy, Western Style



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The Bridge 1.10: Charlotte's Evolution

Marco's search for Gus dominates The Bridge 1.10, with a strong assist from Sonya, wounded in the car smash, but still thinking clearly and even able to move pretty good.

With Tate/Hastings being unveiled as the killer, a lot of the mystery is gone, but it's been replaced by the suspense of what will happen to Gus, and by Marco in a fine performance of a cop who's trying to find and save his own son.

Exactly what Tate wants actually still is a mystery.  Sonya correctly says he won't kill Gus because he wants to prolong the agony Tate is putting Marco through, but Tate is sure playing it close with Gus, just as he did with Alma and the girls.  Which raises the same questions:  Is Tate's goal to have Marco see the death of his children, or narrowly save them - and, if the latter, why?  Possible Marco is so quietly deranged that there's no discernible logic in what he's doing, but that doesn't seem all that likely, either.

Tate manages to get Frye from the frying pan of an alcoholics confession group into the fire of who knows - in a very effective scene - so Tate is at least being consistent in meting out punishment to everyone who helped destroy his family.  But, again, to what ultimate end?

Presumably Charlotte had nothing to do with any of Tate's woes, but you never know, and, in any case, she's become quite the killer herself.  Indeed, her evolution from clueless, wide-eyed widow to tough don't-mess-with-me-or-mine lady is one of the more important transformations on the show.  I'm hoping she survives this season, because she'd be great to see in the second season, which I'm also hoping comes to be.

See also The Bridge Opens Brooding and Valent ... The Bridge 1.2: A Tale of Two Beds ... The Bridge 1.6: Revelations ... The Bridge 1.7: A Killer and a Reluctant Professor ... The Bridge 1.8: Some Dark Poetic Justice ... The Bridge 1.9: Trade-Off

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Broadchurch 1.6: "A Break from Being Sad"

It was probably the best line of  episode 1.6 of Broadchurch tonight - "a break from the sadness," which Chloe says she needed, and everyone affected by Danny's murder needs, and of course no one got a bit of in tonight's fine, taut hour.

What we do get is a grilling of the priest - who of course cannot be the killer, because he's been too obvious all along.

Susan Wright has also been a too-obvious suspect, ever since we saw her hiding Danny's skateboard, in addition to her nasty attitude towards the police.  Tonight we learn that she has a history, regarding something bad that happened to her husband and children, though apparently she was not found guilty of anything.

And she has a dog - a beautiful chocolate lab - which she understandably gets upset about when it goes missing.  (I'm a fan of this dog, especially since my daughter and son-in-law have a lovable black dog, Pooka, who reminds me of Susan's dog.)   And, actually, we see the lab being taken by Mark's partner Joe, and we also see him point a gun at the dog - but, thanks to the coming attractions, we know the dog was not harmed.

Thanks to the coming attractions we also know that Hardy survives whatever fells him, just another reason why we'd probably be better off without coming attractions in shows like Broadchurch.   But I'm glad that Hardy survives, not the least because I was mightily impressed that he was able to tie his tie without even glancing at a mirror!

But back to the identity of the killer: I've thought for a while that it's most likely Joe, except now that he kidnapped the dog he may have become too obvious.   The hallmark of a good cracking mystery: a plethora of obvious suspects, and none are the killer.   But Susan, in the coming attractions, says she saw the killing.  Hmmm ...

See also Broadchurch: Powerful Viewing ... Broadchurch 1.2: Brooding Excellence ... Broadchurch 1.3: The Spy ... Broadchurch 1.4: The Unusual Suspects ... Broadchurch 1.5: Good Loving and Almost Loving



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Under the Dome 1.12: Incommunicado

A better than usual Under the Dome 1.12 last night, with Big Jim continuing on his rampage.

His latest victim is Dodee, who never hurt a fly, and has a name right of the 1950s.  Her "crime"?  She heard a military guy, talking on the outside, about the Reverend being killed inside the dome.  And Big Jim hears this.   Life is cheap, under the dome, at least as far as Big Jim is concerned.  But at least he's consistent: he's come to hold and act on the position that anyone who poses a threat to him is fair game to be murdered.

Not only that, but Big Jim also destroys all of the radio station's equipment, which means the folks under the dome will be incommunicado regarding the outside world.  I guess the people outside can go back to holding up signs to communicate to the people within, but that's just not as effective as radio.

It was a pretty good show, though.  Angie's rescue of the still unconscious Julia from the watchful eye of the slightly demented Jr was a good set piece.  She played distracting Jr perfectly, giving Barbie a chance to get Julia out of the hospital and into the ambulance, so Angie could drive away while Barbie hung back to occupy Sheriff Linda.  And Angie's doubling back to hide Julia in the basement of the hospital was a good move, too.

But speaking of Sheriff Linda, she's one of the most gullible law enforcement officers to come along on television in a long time.  Shouldn't she know better than to buy the thinly veiled lies that Big Jim constantly spins?  Even Junior is getting suspicious.   But Julia's regained consciousness, which at very least should add a little more intelligence to the show.

See also Under the Dome: Superior Summer Science Fiction ... Under the Dome 1.2: Adrenaline and Seepage ... Under the Dome 1.3: Way Under ...Under the Dome 1.4: Good Night for Junior, Until ... Under the Dome 1.5: vs the Bomb ... Under the Dome 1.6: Sentient Biosphere ... Under the Dome 1.7: The Nucleus ... Under the Dome 1.8: The Monarch ... Under the Dome 1.9: The New Woman ... Under the Dome 1.10: The 4th Hand ... Under the Dome 1.11: Benefactor

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The Newsroom 2.8: The Course of True Love

As President Obama prepares the address the American people tonight about what - hopefully - will be the movement towards a peaceful solution to the horror of Syria's chemical weapons, The Newsroom 2.8 brought us back to just this past November and the election of Obama to the Presidency for his second term,

Actually, though, the episode had very little political or even news-coverage content, and instead focused on MacKenzie's attempt to find some closure for the false report that Obama used chemical weapons that she and the ACN staff both above and below her were responsible for airing.  In particular, she wants Will to fire her, as her only honorable exit.

Will thinks otherwise - unlike MacKenzie and Charlie, Will is inclined to accept Leona's impassioned refusal to fire Will and Charlie, and her exhortation to Charlie to win back the public's trust.  But what's really at stake here - in a sly movie for the story of the series that undercuts politics and news - is Will's still not yet coming to terms with Mac's cheating on him back in 2007 (before the series began).  He keeps coming back to this, at every turn in the conversation about her professional future.

Why indeed?  This is still a bit of a mystery, because she clearly loves and loved Will.  And Will thought he correctly got that, during their relationship.  The vague explanation we've so far received about all that is Mac realized how deeply she loved Will while she was cheating, but the die was already cast, and led to the death of their relationship.

But not the intense love the two still share, which animates a lot of the major professional crises on the show, and which we'll hopefully see more about - and maybe even more of - when the series concludes its brief second season next week.

See also The Newsroom Season 2 Debuts on Occupy Wall Street and More ... and (about Trayvon Martin) If Only There Was a Video Recording ... The Newsroom 2.2: The Power of Video ... The Newsroom 2.7: Autopsy of a Bad Decision

And see also The Newsroom and McLuhan ... The Newsroom and The Hour ...The Newsroom Season 1 Finale: The Lost Voice Mail



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Ray Donovan 1.10: Poetry and Death

Ray Donovan has definitely hit its stride in the past few episodes, putting up easily the best episode so far with 1.10 this past Sunday.

The theme is the coming to a head of Ray's hiring of Sully to kill Ray's father Mickey.  Although the logic of television went against the removal of Jon Voight and his inspired performance as Mickey, the build-up to how Sully was a gunshot away from killing Mickey, and how Mickey managed to dodge that, was both harrowing and brilliant.

It was also poetic.  Roseanna Arquette's Linda was spooked in the previous episode, when the ever wanting to be helpful Mickey took Linda literally when she told him a gun would need to be put to her head.  In 1.10, she calls him, the two get together for a roll in the hay, she's about to leave - even though incredible Mickey tells her he'd be good for another roll in 20 minutes - when Sully and his thug break in.  Before long, Linda's qualms about drawn guns are realized, when Sully shoots her dead in the brush.

Ray was quietly agonizing about his order to kill Mickey - though Abby noticed - and I had thought there was a 50/50 chance that he'd be the one to rush out of the gym and stop Sully from doing it.  I was glad I was wrong, because Ray's inaction in these circumstances makes him a more dangerous and interesting character.  So, as it turns out, Mickey has to rely on his own smarts to save his hide, which entail his directing Sully to kill Sean Walker for the killing of Colleen, which is what - as Mickey realizes - Sully cares most about.

Why Sully didn't turn around kill Mickey after Walker was dispatched is an open question.  Possibly Sully was so grateful that he finally got his satisfying revenge for Colleen that he just let Mickey walk after Walker was sent walking through the pearly gates.  But Sully doesn't seem to be the type that overly acts on his gratitude, so there is likely more of a story yet to be told here.

As it is, Ray, who earlier indicated to Abby how much he wanted another baby, is left looking at Walker's smiling baby, as Walker lays dead in the next room.  Another piece of dark poetry in this brooding drama which is increasingly finding its unique voice.

See also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger

 


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Boardwalk Empire 4.2 Sneak Preview Review

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews of Boardwalk Empire - this one of 4.2 - courtesy of screeners from Starpulse, guaranteed to be spoiler free, and to be followed this Sunday with a proper recap/review after the episode has aired in New York, just up the road from A.C.

We learn what Richard, whom we saw on a killing spree in 4.1, is really up to.  And, in fact, 4.2 is one of the best Richard shows we've seen in lo these four seasons.  We learn about his family, and we see yet another very tender side of him.

Episode 4.2 also introduces this season's (so far) most important new character.  We've seen him in the HBO coming attractions, so I'm not giving anything away to say he's Dr. Valentin Narcisse - that's "Dr.," mind you, not "Mr.," as Narcisse instructs Nucky, because Narcisse has worked too hard to attain that title  - and he's played to arrogant lordly perfection by the talented Jeffrey Wright.  He's not only arrogant but liltingly poetic - as befits his Trinidadian heritage (not Jamaican, as he corrects Chalky) - and he can kill without missing a beat.  A suitable opponent for Nucky, and a kind of danger Nucky hasn't quite encountered before.

Speaking of masters - and servants - this is also an important episode for Eddie, who, as we saw last week, is not in the greatest physical shape.  There's always been a unique professional relationship between Nucky and Eddie, who has directly and indirectly saved Nucky's life on more than one occasion.   Nucky, for his part, knows how important Eddie is to his well-being, and Nucky's actions regarding Eddie reveal one of Nucky's kindest sides.

There were two major characters missing from the first episode.   We get one of them back, in fine form, but the other is still nowhere to be seen.  I'll talk more about this in my review after this episode airs on Sunday.

PS - Ok, here's one more nugget: look in 4.2 for another new character.  He likely won't be quite as important this season as Narcisse, but he's vastly better known in our real history than the person Narcisse is based upon, and who knows what trouble he'll pose for Nucky.

See also Boardwalk Empire 4.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Boardwalk Empire 4.1: Fame and Power

And see also Boardwalk Empire 3.1: Happy News Year 1923  ... Boardwalk Empire 3.2: Gasoline and the White Rock Girl ... Boardwalk Empire 3.3: The Showgirl and The Psycho ... Boardwalk Empire 3.5: "10 L'Chaim" ... Boardwalk Empire 3.7: Deadly Gillian ... Boardwalk Empire 3.8: Andrew Mellon ... Boardwalk Empire 3.9: Impaired Nucky

And see also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube  ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto ... Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story ... Boardwalk Empire 2.6: Owen and Other Bad News for Nucky ... Boardwalk Empire 2.7: Shot in the Hand  ...Boardwalk Empire 2.8: Pups with Fangs ... Boardwalk Empire 2.9: Ireland, Radio, Polio ...Boardwalk Empire 2.10: Double Shot ... Boardwalk Empire 2.11: Gillian and Jimmy  ... Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Finale: Stunner!

And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ...Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist  ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire

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Breaking Bad Final Episode #5: Coordinates

I've been rooting for Walt throughout every episode of Breaking Bad - because he represents the indomitable human spirit, struggling to survive and triumph against all odds.  And after tonight's final episode #5 - when Walt was in many ways at his worst - I'm still rooting for him, and I felt like cheering at the ending.

Yeah, I know he was doing his best to get Jesse killed.  But he changed his mind at the last minute.

I know that Hank is on the side of the law, but he's not such a good guy, and certainly not to Jesse.

And Walt was pretty dumb to fall right into step with Jesse's plan, and step on the gas and drive right to where he hid his money.

But you know what?  I felt bad - worse than bad - when it looked like it was all over for Walt.  Even though I knew full well from the flashforwards that Walt was not under arrest, not in prison, and got away from all of this, or at least most of this.

But I was glad when Todd's uncle and the killers drove up, even though Walt told them not to.  I was hoping they would.  After all, Walt did give them the coordinates.  They wanted to do the job so they could get Walt to do one last cook for them, as they got Walt to agree.  So of course they showed up.

And, though the gun battle was therefore not unexpected, it was still great and satisfying to see.  Do I want Hank to die?  I don't know.  I don't care.  I just want Walt to live, or least, not die like this, because, like I said above, he and this show represent a rare, wild, twisted but often true fable of the triumph of the human spirit.

See also: Breaking Bad Final Episodes #1: Walt vs. Hank ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #2: Skylar and Jesse ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #3: The Ultimate Lie ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #4: Old Yeller

And see also Breaking Bad Season 5 Premiere: Riveting Entropy ... Breaking Bad 5.3: Deal with the Devil ... Breaking Bad 5.7: Exit Mike ... Breaking Bad Final Half-Season Finale

And see also My Prediction about Breaking Bad ... Breaking Bad Season 4 Debuts ... Breaking Bad 4.2: Gun and Question ... Breaking Bad 4.11: Tightening Vice ... Breaking Bad 4.12: King vs. King ... Breaking Bad Season 4 Finale: Deceptive Flowers



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